


AOT: The Hidden City of Sentora

by ferrysnet



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Death, Friendship, No Smut, Original Character(s), Sibling Rivalry, Slow Burn, Violence, War, Work In Progress, im sick of main characters dying so im gonna kill some of my own
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-16 05:54:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29202408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ferrysnet/pseuds/ferrysnet
Summary: In the early days of the Marleyan Empire, the Sentorans fled the new Empire, fearing the worst. They found a safe haven in a massive forest in the center of the continent, but how long can they remain safe when the Marley Empire expands rapidly?
Kudos: 1





	1. The Forest

**Author's Note:**

> AN: This is a mostly OC based AU. I am adding to the storyline of AOT, not following it exactly. If you have any ideas for me, please put it in the reviews. Probably won't have any of the characters from Paradis/The Walls, but might have some of the Marleyans in the fic. This takes place within the Marleyan Empire, far away from Paradis. Hope you like :D

Winter lasts in Sentora for only a few weeks and it barely snows here, but when it does, it is truly beautiful. The sun shines in just the right spots to make the icy crystals look like diamonds. My mother would always scold me for standing out in it for too long; I guess old habits never die. I was sitting on the roof of our treehouse and sketching the scenery when I heard someone call my name.

"Gracjan! Gracjan come look! The soldiers are coming home!" my sister called me from somewhere in the distance.

Guess I would have to find her, otherwise my mother would scold me yet again. I slid off the roof and grabbed onto a rope leading to the ground. Looking down all I could think of was how high up I was. It took all of the courage I could sum up to climb down.

"Gratsi! We need to get there first!" she yelled again.

God, why does she have to make everything a race? I loosened my grip on the rope a little and I began to slide down. If I didn't have the gloves they gave out, my hands would definitely be split open. I've seen some kids try it on dares. Glad I'm not that stupid. Once I finally got to the ground, I needed to lit a torch. Should've grabbed one before I got down, but nothing I could do about it now. Somewhere in the distance I could see a flame trailing off. Shit, she's already running off without me.

"Marina! Wait for me!" I yelled out, doubtful she could even hear me.

Luckily, there was a torch I found stabbed into the ground; it was taller than me! It would have to do for now. I gripped the wooden pole that made up most of the torch and pulled with all my might. No luck. Taking a deep breath I pulled again and the torch yielded. Almost falling after that, I steadied myself and took out a match. With my torch now lit, I ran off to where I saw that flame. If you could see me in the dark, I would look like the soldiers I was running to. Rifle in hand and all. However, I definitely did not feel like a soldier and it was getting harder to breathe while running this fast. The other boys would make fun of me for letting a girl outrun me, but I never did. Marina won on her own all those times, and much to their surprise, she outran all of them as well.

After a few minutes I had to catch my breath and I took a second. I took a look back at my home amidst the trees. The brightest light in all of Sentora went out for a split second, only to be lit again and my heart dropped. One was a warning, two was a... The light went out again.

"Marina! Marina come back!" I screamed into the darkness with no response. "Marina!"

I saw the end of the forest from here. If she ran out into the plains, no, she couldn't have. Our mother told her better. Still, she must be somewhere up ahead. Trying to run again only left me more tired, enough to drop my torch to the ground. The torch luckily hit some rock and not the grass, otherwise the whole forest might have went alight. I searched the ground, completely blind from the dark.

"Marina! Where are you?" I took a deep breath before yelling out with all the air in my lungs.

"Gratsi?" I heard her voice say back, but it was faint.

How far did she run? It doesn't matter yet, I need to find the torch before I can chase after her again. I remember where the torch hit the stone and went out. So if I go from there... Yes! I got it. After relighting it, I held it more tightly and looked up to run forward again. Someone ran into me and we both fell to the ground. I saw his body be trampled by a dozen others and the adrenaline began to rush through my body. A man tripped over me and fell, while another stomped my arm and I heard an audible snap. I was nothing but a twig to this mass of humans. The reality of the situation began to wash over me and I knew I was likely to die. But, if I could, I had to get to Marina. She could outrun them, unlike me. If these are enemy soldiers like the light from home suggests, she couldn't outrun their bullets. Barely able to crawl away, I came up with a plan. Grabbing onto one of their legs, I yanked them to the ground. A boot met his head and blood began to drip out of the fallen man's head. This caused someone to order a halt of their forces. That was my chance, I got to my feet and ran off in between the trees. A number of guns rang out towards me, all hitting the trunks around me. When before I could barely breathe, the adrenaline completely carried me off. My flight or fight taking over. And I most definitely chose flight.

I could hear a few men running after me, but they wouldn't catch me. This would be the day I ran faster than Marina.


	2. The Attack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The attack begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Okay, I'm not gonna lie, I was still feeling productive after the prologue, so have enough chapter for free :D

"Hey Catrine, you seen Gracjan yet?" two boys covered in animal furs slammed open the door.

This had been what, the third time they've asked me about that kid today? Just because I'm the lookout doesn't mean that I know where everyone is at all times. Especially now, when the forest is at its darkest. I just waved my hand and looked back out to the clearing I was assigned to watch. Once I did that, something caught my eye. The dim light of a fire, way out in the distance. No one was supposed to be out at this hour. In fact, the two idiots should be in bed right about now. The rest of the Guard and me should be the only ones outside their homes. I wouldn't report them, no, otherwise they would report me sleeping on the job to the General.

It had been quiet all night until these two fools showed up. Just like all of the nights before, I had no intention of actually doing anything important. I suppose that's what I get for failing all but one of the tests to be a Guard. Every time I see the others in their fancy uniforms, I regret slacking on that test. Perception, that's what I excelled at. I could feel the others laughing behind my back once my results were announced.

The General says this job is important, but as far as I've seen, this is about the most shit job I could be paired with, even without those two bothering me at least ten times a day. However, it's the very least I can do to help the village.

"Come on Oles, we should go lo-" one of the two, Viktor, spoke up.

"That would take all night! And besides, Catrine knows everything," Oles punched his brother in the arm.

They were nearly identical twins, only Viktor had dark brown hair and was a little bit shorter than Oles. The other, Oles, had light brown hair, almost blonde and was taller. Oles had been born only a few minutes before Viktor, but he always acted like the bigger brother. Both of them were 8 years old. They might think they're the best trackers and hunters in town, but I've had to call the Guard on them to rescue them from the woods more times than I can count. It seems to make their parents proud, if not terrified out of their minds every time they go on one of their adventures.

"Guys, I'm telling you, I have no idea where Gracjan is tonight. He probably is up on his roof again. You know it's snowing." I looked in through the small telescope I had and saw that there were men standing around the fire.

"Like that isn't the first place I checked Catrine," Oles rolled his eyes and I shushed him, "What?"

"Be quiet Oles!" I whispered through gritted teeth and got them both to crouch down below the window.

I could tell they both thought I was crazy, but if those men were... No, there's no way they could've found the forest. Not yet.

"Oles look! It's Gracjan-" Viktor stood up and pointed

They all wore beige uniforms and one had a yellow arm band. Once I saw that I was staring down a rifle's barrel, I immediately ducked and told the kids to get down. Oles did almost immediately but Viktor hesitated, looking out towards Gracjan. I yelled at Viktor again to duck, but he wouldn't get down. Oles pleaded with him, but something had possessed the boy. That man in uniform saw me, he most certainly saw Oles' brother.

"Viktor! Get down!" I yelled, about to tackle him if he wouldn't get out of the way of being shot.

"What is that?" Viktor stammered, still pointing out the window.

Against my better judgement, I inched my head up to see what he was looking at. I couldn't believe my eyes. It wasn't the men with guns I should be scared of, it was the titan rapidly approaching the town. Not just any titan either, this one was certainly abnormal. It looked like you took the skin off a person and painted their muscles yellow. I stared deep into its emotionless eyes as it approached the camp. This was my job; the one thing I was tasked to do. And I couldn't move. Just like Viktor, I was completely frozen. That beast was Medusa and my legs were the first to turn to stone.

Somewhere in me, an ember of courage began to grow brightly. It was up to me to alert the others. What was I doing here? Standing without any sort of action. That wasn't the spirit of the Guard. It was the spirit of a coward. And I would not let myself be remembered as the reason for my people to be killed. It only takes one of the Guard to hesitate, for the entire town to be decimated. I might not think it, but this job of mine, now it means something! Even if I could only save Viktor and Oles, I was going to do it. I grabbed one wrist on each twin and turned to run.

"Marley! It's Marley!" I yelled out to the town and the torches as the other guard posts lit up.

Viktor and Oles followed closely behind me. We made our way across one of the bridges, closer and closer to the center platform. I heard the sound of splintering wood right behind me and the bridge started to fall right under us. Safety was just in front of us, barely within reach. And then I saw it, that thing's hand moving towards me. Did that titan even realize who it was killing? What it was doing? It couldn't. Nothing with a heart could kill us like that. Whoever was in that titan was worse than the mindless ones. Because it chose this.

"Duck-" I said and as soon as I finished that word, I let go of the twins and the hand slammed into my body.

I went flying. There was no preparation I could've taken. But at least I went quickly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: And there we have it! Reiner's entrance to the story has taken place. If you liked the chapter please consider leaving a review telling me what you liked and what I could improve on :D And if you have any characters you would like to be in the story, you can leave them in the reviews as well!

**Author's Note:**

> AN: Okay! Done with the first part/chapter! Really hope you like it :D If you have an OC you'd like to see as a minor character, put them in the reviews! I might use them for the future. Btw, in the beginning, Gracjan is about 13 and Marina is about 7 or 8.


End file.
